The Air Force hit its recruiting goal for 2024 after implementing numerous changes such new body fat standards, marijuana waivers and new legal permanent resident requirements.
In a written statement, Brig. Gen. Christopher Amrhein , commander of the Air Force Recruiting Service, said no single change made the difference, but numerous factors helped, such as removing barriers to enlistment, additional incentives and hiring people to help process medical waivers.
The Air Force had a goal of enlisting 27,100 new airmen. Policy changes brought in 9,800 people, he said in a written statement.
"This is an incredible achievement, particularly in today's challenging recruiting environment, where we face intense competition from the private sector," he said in the statement. The Air Force announced it had met its goal ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline, which marks the end of the federal fiscal year.
The Air Force missed its recruiting goal in 2023 for the first time in 24 years. It missed the active duty goal by about 10% and for the reserves by 31% The Air Force had aimed to recruit 26,977 people in 2023.
The Army and Navy have also had struggles with recruiting in recent years, while the Space Force, the youngest and smallest of the branches, has hit its quotas.
Recruiting faced tough years after losing access to high schools and in-person events during the pandemic and then facing tough competition with the private sector. Since then, in-person events and outreach have restarted and the economy may be shifting a little.
The unemployment rate for those 16 to 24 years old has ticked up slightly and when it's harder to get a job in the private sector, it can make the military more appealing, said Beth Asch, a senior economist at Rand, a nonprofit, nonpartisan institute.
Senior military leaders have also told Congress they face a low and falling interest in serving in the military and that's hurt recruitment. Only about 10% of youth consider serving, Amrhein said in December 2023, in Congressional testimony.
But that is a less important factor because it has been low for quite some time and the military has had successful recruiting years, even with low propensity, Asch said. While it's harder to recruit those who are not interested, high school students and other young people can be persuaded in part through generous incentives.
"This is a population that is still discovering the world," Asch said.
The "most disruptive challenge" to recruiting in the recent past has been the new health information exchange, known as Military Health System Genesis. The system has uncovered far more potentially disqualifying medical conditions among recruits leading to more waiver requests and longer wait-times, Amrhein said, in his testimony. Last fall, the recruiting service added 63 employees to help review medical records, he said.
Among the recent policy changes, new body fat requirements were among the most successful, according to data provided by the Air Force Recruiting Service.
Increasing the body mass index requirements for recruits up to 26% for men and 36% for women brought in 997 people during the 2023 fiscal year and 3,300 through Aug 31, 2024, for a total of about 4,300, Brown said. Only one of those people was separated from the Air Force for a fitness failure. The Air Force no longer issues waivers for weight after changing the standard.
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But previous studies showed those who received waivers for weight to join the service performed equally to those who did not receive a waiver, although they are more likely to encounter medical issues down the road, Asch said.
Using weight as a standalone measure also doesn't necessarily convey a person's capabilities, she explained. For example, football players can have higher BMI, as well as strength and stamina.
Two other changes that potentially reflect a larger changing culture are new marijuana and tattoo standards.
The Air Force started a two-year pilot program to allow potential airmen to retest if they failed their initial test for THC. The pilot allows prospective airmen to retest after 90 days if they initially fail. The Army and Navy have similar pilot programs.
During fiscal year 2024, 246 people retested and during fiscal year 2023, 165 retested, for a total of more than 400 who have joined the Air Force through the program, Brown said.
Once airmen join, they cannot use marijuana under current drug policy.
The Air Force also adopted a new tattoo policy to allow one-inch tattoos on each hand and one on the neck. The policy change allowed 480 people to join in the last year and 629 since it was started.
The permanent legal residency requirement was also dropped from 10 years to two years to encourage enlistments, Amrhein said. Since April 2023, approximately 1,400 airmen attained citizenship at basic military training, Brown said.
The service also upped its incentives and restarted a program that will repay up to $65,000 in college loans. It's attracted 567 people since it started, she said.
Next year, the Air Force expects to increase its recruiting goal by 20% and hopes to bring on 377 new recruiters to help with that effort, Brown said.
While Asch expects recruiting will remain challenging, the branches are likely to be more successful because they have dedicated more resources to it and improved their methods in recent years.
"They will have attacked it in a sensible, strategic way," she said.
However, Asch said she also hopes to see additional work to understand whether the changes have had any unintended negative consequences.